The Eastern front
by spark n' Jetz
Summary: 1941. Germany, seemingly invincible, has crushed country after country with it's blitzkrieg tactic, even taking the big player France. Russia is content sitting back to watch with it's truce, but that all changes when Germany launches Operation Barbarossa, intending to take out the Russians once and for all. Little do they know, that mistake would lead to their downfall.
1. Chapter 1

**July 10th, 1941-Operation Barbarossa Eastern front**

"Shell loading!"Our loader, Kamenetsky Ashirov shouted.

"Target confirmed!

My T-34 tank rocks as an 85 millimeter shell fires.

"Target destroyed! Penetration hit!"Our gunner, Yankov Dmitriy reports.

"Good job everyone,"Our commander says and sighs with relief.

I look through my cupola, and unfortunately spot a German Panzer V Panther tank.

"Damnit! Panther tank Northwest!"I yell.

"Loading shell!"

"Firing!"

"Ricochet!"

Orders and reports stream through the hull of the T-34 tank, constantly rocking back and forth with voices.

"Hit confirmed!"

"Panther down!"

Suddenly an explosion creates a blinding light in the tank, and when the dust dissipates, the entire turret is gone, along with the gunners upper body. The commander and the loader are dead too. The radio operator glances at me.

"Bail!"I yell and we quickly emerge out of the tank equipped with just pistols and take cover as MG nests start to fire at us. We quickly make our way back to the trenches, and curse.

A Russian soldier glances at me. "What the hell happened?"he asked.

"88 got us."

That was my guess, anyway. The fearsome 88 millimeter anti tank artillery piece, or the 88, was the most fearsome anti-tank weapon of the war.

"Damn. Those things were wreaking havoc in our lines a couple a days ago. Took out Five T-34's. We're hopeless."

Suddenly an explosion is heard and a indistinguishable German plane flies over. "Damn! AA guns, where the hell are they?" a soldier yelled.

"The 37s got taken out when the Tigers struck."

I curse. The 37mm anti air piece was the only thing that could get to do those damn luftwaffe planes. It continues its bombing, but is forced to pull back when several parked T-34s staying back use their machine guns to ward off the planes. They didn't actually hit anything, but they drove them off enough.

Suddenly, our radio operators eyes go wide, and starts shouting.

"10 Panzer IV's advancing upon our position!"he yells. Immediately, 5cm anti tank guns are rushed out to the front, and T-34's turn their gun to an approaching cloud of dirt.

"Damnit!"another soldier yells, just as the first shots fire. A 5 cm gun explodes, but not before the other four AT pieces fire, and I see a faint explosion.

"They're probably 1000 yards away. We're lucky to have hit anything."

I look through my goggles, and see the approaching Panzer IV's.

"What the hell are those?"I ask to myself.

They had huge ass guns, and were a bit longer than a normal Panzer IV. "Probably for better accuracy. No wonder they hit one of our AT's while moving,"I mutter.

Ten bursts of fire is suddenly heard, and shots fly into the our forces. Two more 5 centimeter guns explode, and men cry and scream as shrapnel buries them in pain.

Fortunately, no T-34s were hit, and they fire, and another explosion was seen, but they were closing in fast.

"500 yards!"

The T-34s fire again, and I spot two burning hulls.

The AT's attack next, and another explosion, but there were still five left.

"Tanks engaging!"the commander of the T-34 yells, and the three parked tanks roll out and engage the enemy.

"Hey. You any good with this?"a soldier asked, and handed me a bazooka. I simply grin. The Panzer IV's engage, and start firing. I look into the pathetic iron sight, and finally a Panzer stops at 150 yards away and makes a shot at the T-34, which glances off it's well sloped armor. I fire, and what looks like a blazing rocket flies out of it, nearly making me drop the tube, as it slams into the Panzer IV. The tank has a big black mark, and a huge hole appears. Soon, small arms fire fires into the hull, and the crew dies quickly.

The other four destroy the T-34 tanks, but not before getting them destroyed themselves.

"We have no tank support. What are we going to do?"one asks.

" Hold positions, and wait until reinforcements arrive,"our sergeant grumbles.

"Stay here? We're all going to die!"one cries in worry.

"Then to hell with it soldiers. Let's go kill some tanks."

With that, the remaining anti tank crews and soldiers grin.


	2. Chapter 2

**July 12th, 1941-Operation Barbarossa Eastern front**

**Alexeyev Konstantin Nikitovich POV**

In the end, even with reinforcements, they were forced to pull back, farther and farther east.

"The Germans are whipping are ass. They're just plowing through our forces,"one of my new crewmembers says.

Once again, I was driving a T-34, with my former radio operator, and a new loader, commander, and gunner. I observe them carefully. They were all veterans, by the look of it.

"Cheer up. Glass of vodka anyone?"our loader jokes.

"You're going to drop a shell and kill all of us you fool. We can be ordered to engage German forces anytime!"the commander says stoically.

After 'socializing' I chose to return to my bunk, resting and contemplating. Just two days ago I was fighting a fierce battle, and now I was peacefully resting. When would it shatter again? Apparently not long, as the shouts are heard and sirens blare.

I rush out, and quickly look around. Russian troops are moving into vehicles, and some are already heading out. "What the hell's happening?"I ask one soldier.

"The German forces are attacking again. Bunch a damn Panthers are moving through the snow. Looks like they have special tracks or somethin' cause they're going way faster than they usually go.

I curse under my breath and get into our tank, seated in the gunners position. The rest of my crew arrives too, and I relay them what I was told.

"Are you kidding! Panthers are going to knock out our tanks before we fire a shot. Those things were supposed to copy us!"Our gunner says. I merely shrug.

"We've just received orders to join Stinger company. We'll be tasked from there,"our radioman reports."

"You heard that! Hit it Alexeyev!"the commander tells me, and I'm thankful that I had completely prepped the tank the day before, with the fuel tank full, all shells loaded, rations, and machine gun ammo ready, with the tank thoroughly cleaned up. I see other tank crews start their maintenance, and sadly shake my head. We would need all the tanks we could get.

I roll the tank over to a group of designated T-34's and KV-1's, known as Stinger company.

"Let's move! We're engaging the the Germans from the front, while two TD companies will come from either side. Hopefully we'll also be able to outflank it,"our lead tank reports over the radio as we drive towards the enemy.

Our loader cautiously puts a shell into the barrel, and waits. It's tense as I steer the T-34 alongside all these other tanks.

"Contact, 6000 yards away!"our gunner calls out.

Soon, similar reports stream through the companies radio, and eventually the lead tank commander orders us to be quiet so he can give commands.

"Preacher 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, advance at full throttle. Spartan 2 and 5, give covering fire. 1, 3, and 4, advance with Preacher. Approach with V formation."

I believe I was assigned to Leopard, which orders hadn't come by yet.

"Dragon and Crescent, follow close behind. Leopard, stay back and pick off enemy targets."

Stinger quickly arranges itself, and meets the enemy head on. I instantly see large explosions, and then smoke, as guns fire and tanks billow. I park my T-34 next to a rock, and my gunner confirms a target.

"Firing!"our gunner yells.

"Miss!"Our commander reports.

"Loading shell!"Our loader yells.

"Firing!"another boom.

"Target hit confirmed. Penetration, but it's still on the move-wait, it's taken out. Rotate right ninety degrees, and then reverse three feet. I think a Panther has it's gun on us,"our commander reports.

I quickly follow his orders, and just in time for a 75mm high velocity shell flies past the front of the tank, missing by a few feet.

"Thank god. Target that Panther advancing upon Preacher 2."

"Shell loaded!"

"Firing!"our gunner says.

"Ricochet,"our commander reports, and I tap my foot nervously.

"Firing!" our gunner yells, shell already loaded.

"Damnit! Ricochet again. Adjust turret five degrees. Rotate tank 20 degrees left."

We follow his orders and fire again.

"Direct hit! Track. Target destroyed by Preacher three."

So far it was going well. We had knocked out seven of the 30 Panthers, and with only 25 tanks to ward off the enemy, it was surprising, since we only lost nine of our tanks. We fire again, and directly hit another Panther.

"Targeting!"

"Firing!"

"Confirmed hit. Target destroyed."

"Loading shell! Wait, incoming!"our commander yells as an explosion suddenly hits our T-34.

"Move back!"our commander says red faced, and I reverse even more, our T-34 hidden behind the rock.

All the crew is intact. "What happened?"I ask just in time to bonk my head into a large dent above my head.

"You're lucky it didn't penetrate,"the commander says. I shrug.

We peek out again, and literally slam right into a Panther. What? Behind the Panther was the remains of Crescent, Dragon, Preacher, and Spartan. What the-oh no…..Tiger I heavy tanks advanced up the hill.

"Fire!"our commander screams, and the gunner dutifully does so. Thankfully, we were so close that the Panther's turret was actually resting on the side of our turret cast, so it had to back up, which gave the gunner enough to hit the Panther directly and destroy it.

"Enemy down! Retreat!"our commander yells and we start reversing, and then driving. The rest of Leopard flees with us, but two get picked off by the Tiger tanks. The T-34s however were faster at 34 mph while the Tigers could only reach 24, and weren't even at that speed yet.

"Operation failure. Eleven Panther tanks and seven Tiger tanks incoming!"our radio operator screams into the radio, Jumbled up replies are received.

"TD companies are coming your way. Hold tight."

And then the real fight begins.


End file.
